There's a difference between health-y and health-ier

These delicious Triple Chocolate Chunk cookies - are the latter. As a relatively healthy eater with a severe sweet tooth, I do everything I can to try and make my treats a tiny bit better for you. That's not to say that nutrition trumps taste. No.. if that were the case, I'd be making spinach cookies that no one wanted to eat. But if you can save even a few calories here and there without sacrificing taste, then I'm all for it.

I first saw this recipe on the now-defunct Food Network show Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger. Of course, that's not on anymore because she couldn't compete with Paula Deen and her 13 sticks of butter. And, to be honest, I made a few of her recipes and they were pretty.. eh. But these cookies are a standout.

Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies
1/4 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. canola oil
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. coarsely chopped dark chocolate (3 oz.)
1/3 c. coarsely chopped milk chocolate (I use chocolate chips)
2/3 c. coarsely chopped pecans (I like to use walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350.
In large bowl, mash butter and sugars with a fork. Add oil & egg, beat til creamy. Add vanilla.
In medium bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa, salt. I like to use 1 cup of white whole-wheat flour, rather than 1/2 c. of white and 1/2 of wheat. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.

For my dark chocolate, I like to use a bar of 70% cacao.

In lieu of milk chocolate, I just chop up some semi-sweet chocolate chips. And lastly, mix in the nuts, whatever kind you like (I prefer walnuts and they are great for you.)

Bake on ungreased cookie sheets for 12 minutes.. and there you have it, a healthier cookie that's super rich and chocolate-y. They don't spread a whole lot, so you just kind of have to go by feel as to when they are done.

Now you can eat your dessert, AND feel good about it. :-)